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Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?

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Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? A Guide for Using Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? in the Prekindergarten Classroom 2004 - 2005 Ideas compiled by BRIGHT FROM THE START: Georgia’s Department of Early Care and Learning Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? Ideas Compiled for Georgia Office of School Readiness Prekindergarten Programs About the story: Brown Bear, Brown Bear What Do You See? is a predictable book, written by Bill Martin, Jr. and illustrated by Eric Carle. The repetition and colorful illustrations in this classic picture book make it a favorite of many children. Each two–page spread has a question on the left-hand side, and the answer on the right- hand side. Each question contains the color of the animal and its name. On each page, you meet a new animal that helps children discover what animal will come next. This pattern is repeated over and over throughout the story, so soon, children will be “reading” this book on their own. This book is also available in Spanish: Ose Pardo, Oso Pardo, Que Ves Ahi? Author Study: When Bill Martin Jr. was growing up in Hiawatha, Kansas, there were no books in his home. A grade school teacher read to his class every day, and Bill developed a great love of books. He checked out his favorite book, The Brownies, by Palmer Cox, many times from his hometown library. However, he did not know how to read. Over the years, he masked this inability to read so well that his teachers assumed he was either lazy or just ill prepared for class. Amazingly, he made it into college where a professor named Ms. Davis recognized his disability and taught him how to read at the age of twenty. Another professor inspired him with the love of poetry and he went on to finish his higher education. After college, Mr. Martin wrote his first children’s book, The Little Squeegy Bug, published in 1945. He and his brother, an illustrator, collaborated on this and many other books. After teaching elementary school in Kansas, he became a principal in Chicago, and then moved to New York City in 1961. There he worked for Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston, where he developed the literature-based reading programs “Sounds of Language and The Instant Readers”. Seven years later, he left that job to begin his career as a writer of children’s books and as a consultant to teachers. He wrote the book Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? in less than an hour while riding on a Long Island Railroad train. In 1993, he moved to his current home in the woods near the east Texas town of Commerce. Mr. Martin’s best known books celebrate his love of poetry. Filled with rhyme and rhythm, the words in his books make one want to chant and jump and clap and smile. He believes very strongly that language and reading should be celebrated. 2 Illustrator Study: Eric Carle was born in Syracuse, New York, in 1929. He moved with his parents to Germany when he was six years old. He received his education in Germany and graduated from a prestigious art school, the Akademie der bildenden Kunste, in Stuggart. His dream was to return to America, the land of his happiest childhood memories. In 1952, his dream became reality and he left Germany with his portfolio and forty dollars in his pocket. He returned to New York and soon found a job as a graphic designer in the promotion department of The New York Times. Later, he was the art director of an advertising agency for many years. One day, Bill Martin, Jr., called him to ask him to illustrate a story he had written. Martin’s eye had been caught by a striking picture of a red lobster that Carle had created for an advertisement. Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See? was the result of this collaboration. This collaboration was the beginning of Carle’s true career. Soon, Carle began writing his own stories and his first original book was 1,2,3 to the Zoo, followed soon afterward by the still popular celebrated classic, The Very Hungry Caterpillar. Eric Carle’s artwork is created in a collage technique and is very distinctive and recognizable. He uses hand-painted papers and then cuts and layers to form bright and cheerful images. Many of his books have an added dimension – die-cut pages, twinkling lights, and lifelike sounds. The themes of his stories are usually drawn from his extensive knowledge and love of nature. He shares this interest with most children. His books usually always offer the child an opportunity to learn something about the world around them. Carle says: “With many of my books I attempt to bridge the gap between the home and school. To me home represents, or should represent; warmth, security, toys, holding hands, being held. School is a strange and new place for a child. Will it be a happy place? There are new people, a teacher, classmates – will they be friendly? I believe the passage from home to school is the second biggest trauma of childhood; the first is, of course, being born. Indeed, in both cases we leave a place of warmth and protection for one that is unknown. The unknown often brings fear with it. In my books I try to counteract this fear, to replace it with a positive message. I believe that children are naturally creative and eager to learn. I want to show them that learning is really both fascinating and fun.” Eric Carle has two grown children, a son and a daughter. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts with his wife, Barbara. 3 BEGINNING OF THE YEAR ACTIVITIES: Brown Bear Tour of The School Take children on a tour of key locations in the school or center. Introduce them to important people they will need to know. Take your digital camera along (or 35mm or Polaroid) to take pictures of each key location and persons you meet along the way. When you return to the classroom, create a class book for the children to use over the next few weeks to familiarize themselves with their “new” school. Paste your pictures on construction paper, tag board or poster board pages and add text related to your school or site. Ms./Mr. _____________ class, Ms./Mr. _____________ class, what do you see? We see the library looking at us. Ms./Mr. ________________ class, Ms./ Mr. ________________ class, what do you see? We see Ms. ______________, the librarian, looking at us. Suggested places, people to visit: library, office, cafeteria, gym, nurse’s office, bathrooms, janitor, principal, librarian, secretary, nurse, music or art room and teachers. You can title the book with the name of your school or center: Kid Place, Kid Place What Do you See? Alternate idea: Pre-make the book before the children arrive and title it, Teacher, Teacher, What Do You See? You can then follow-up with a tour of the school to meet the people and see the places you included in your story. MATH ACTIVITIES Graphing Activity Make a large pictograph using die cut animals from the story and ask each child to choose his/her favorite animal from the story to add to the graph. You can use a large shower curtain, chart paper, poster board or bulletin board paper for your graph. Count to see which animal is the favorite! Sequencing Activity: Draw or trace or use templates to create each character from the story. Laminate and place in your writing area or manipulative area and let children sequence the story. Teddy Bear Math: Ask the children to bring in their favorite stuffed bear. Use these activities as large group, small group or work time activities: • Sort and pattern bears by kind, color and/or size and create a graph (Pooh, panda, big/small, etc.) 4 • Talk about the graph – which kind do you have the least of? Most of? Etc.? • Estimate and measure the circumference of a tiny teddy bear’s tummy and a great big teddy bear’s tummy • Measure the bears’ lengths using interlocking cubes and/or rulers • Classify the bears: tallest, shortest, heaviest, lightest, fluffiest, firmest, cutest, etc. Gummy Bear Math: Estimate, count, sort, pattern and graph by color with gummy bears. Teddy Cookie Graph: Estimate, count, pattern and graph teddy grahams according to favorite flavor! Mix several flavors together (Cinnamon, Chocolate, Chocolate Chip, Honey) and place in small cups or containers and distribute to each child. Let children sort and count the teddy shaped cookies. Let the children taste each flavor and then decide which flavor is their favorite. SCIENCE ACTIVITIES Texture Book: Make a book for your children to touch and feel. On each page include something different. Some ideas: aluminum, denim, sandpaper, springs, feathers, carpet, sticks, etc. You can use poster board cut to the size you desire and then hot glue the items to each page. (Five Senses) Feely Bag: In sturdy freezer bags, balloons or latex gloves put syrup with a bit of food coloring and let children observe it. Be sure to superglue or tape the top of the bag in order to insure that it does not come open. You can also add other items to make more feely bags. Try playdough, rice, beans, marbles, peas, sugar, water, sand, or flour. (Five Senses) Taste Test: Bring in items that taste salty, sweet, sour, and bitter for children to taste. Let the children discuss each item. Graph the items according to how they test.
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